It Registered
by darcyLoVesmarissa
Summary: She would never discover if the feelings she had for him, which were certainly not those of just partners, were mutual. Hopefully he would get the letter, he had to read it. He had to. An 'Aliens in a Spaceship' one-shot. Brennan's POV.


**I don't own Bones seeing as how I'm not Fox. Or Hart Hanson. I do follow him on Twitter though... he's charming and funny and everything the creator of Bones ought to be.  
This small little one-shot takes place after Aliens in a Spaceship. Wrote this a while back, just now posting it. Enjoy. And Review. **

It was dark. That, oddly, was the first thing that registered in her mind. The darkness. Well, of course it would be dark, they had been far down in the ground. The second thing that registered? She couldn't feel Hodgins anymore, couldn't sense him beside her. It was a weird sensation being blasted out of a car and through sand. She had never been blown up before. Beaten, harassed, and drowned? Sure. But she had never been blown up.

It really was an odd feeling. Is that how Booth felt when he opened her fridge? Oh, the fridge. She had been terrified when it happened. When her eyes first took in the sight of him lying on her floor broken, bruised and in flames she went numb. No, not numb, when you're numb you don't feel anything. She felt everything. Panic, fear, guilt, dread, and a weird sense of heartache that she couldn't explain to herself even if she tried. But she did feel numb to the rest of the world, the rest of her surroundings. Anything but Seeley Booth, the feel of his weak pulse under her fingers, the sound of his stilted breathing. She was both numb and completely feeling at the same time. It had taken her a month to get up the courage to buy a new fridge, something she didn't share with Booth, or Angela for that matter.

No, she decided, Booth probably didn't feel this strangely elating feeling when he was blown up. He didn't get time to think at all, it happened in a flash and he had no warning like she did. She wished she had it easy like him, that way she wouldn't have the time to think. She wouldn't have been able to worry about why she could no longer feel Hodgins. She wouldn't have to wish that the letter she wrote had fallen somewhere in the dirt around her, lost to the world. She wouldn't have the painful feeling in her heart that hurt even more as she closed her eyes quickly against the darkness, to prevent dirt from getting in her eyes, and only saw Seeley Booth, her partner and best friend, smiling widely as his eyes sparkled at her with what she could only describe as adoration and pride. Was it adoration? Was it pride? Shame, she would never get the chance to find out. Just like she would never discover if the feelings she had for him, which were certainly not those of _just partners_,were mutual. Hopefully he would get the letter, he had to read it. He had to.

It took some time for the next thing to register, seconds probably, but it seemed like hours to her. The thing she was conscious of next was the bizarre sensation of pulling on her wrist. And just like that she knew it was him. She somehow knew, without evidence of… anything really, that he was there, that he had found her. Of course he had. His hand clutched at her arm now, tighter than before. Had she doubted him? Had her writing the letter proved that somewhere, deep in her mind, she lost faith in him, faith in his determination to find her? No. She didn't doubt him. She knew he wouldn't give up. She doubted everything else. She doubted her and Hodgins and their cryptic little text that the squints might not have been able to make out. She doubted the FBI having the ability to get him to her fast enough. She doubted the way of the universe for not granting him more time, her more time, Hodgins more time. But, it was okay now. Because she could feel his arm dragging her out of the sand. She knew, beyond a reasonable doubt, that she would never doubt him after this. It wasn't possible. He had saved her.

The next things she was aware of registered in her mind simultaneously. She was lying on top of semi-loose dirt. It was no longer dark but stunningly bright. Angela was kissing Hodgins. Hodgins was okay. She was sitting now, without consciously moving. An FBI van was approaching. She was turning her head. Booth was there, smiling at her the way she had seen when she shut her eyes against the dirt. Adoration? Pride? Something stronger than adoration this time? She would need to gather more evidence to be sure. She had the time to gather evidence now. Time to talk to him, time to laugh with him, time to fight with him. She had time. And it was all thanks to him. She didn't know how to thank somebody for saving her life, how to thank somebody for time, how to thank somebody for everything. Because that's what he had given her. Everything. She didn't know how to thank him, so she smiled back.

It registered: he was still smiling at her.  
It registered: she was still smiling back.  
It registered: he had really given her everything.  
It registered: she would have been content if he had just given her him.

**If you REVIEW I will bake you Oatmeal-Chocolate chip cookies. Or make you an ice-cream cake. Or both, possibly. **


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